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Pores (the spaces that exist between soil particles) provide for the passage and/or retention of gasses and moisture within the soil profile.The soil's ability to retain water is strongly related to particle size; water molecules hold more tightly to the fine particles of a clay soil than to coarser particles of a sandy soil, so clays generally retain more water. [2]
Irrigation is the process of artificially applying water to soil to allow plant growth. This term is preferably used when large amounts of water is applied to dry, arid regions in order to facilitate plant growth. The process of irrigation not only increases the growth rate of the plant but also increases the yield amount.
Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil. Soil life, soil biota, soil fauna, or edaphon is a collective term that encompasses all organisms that spend a significant portion of their life cycle within a soil profile, or at the soil-litter interface.
Tree uprooting causes considerable soil displacement by producing mounds, mixing the soil, or inverting vertical sections of soil. [3] Burrowing animals, such as earth worms and small mammals, form passageways for air and water transport which changes the soil properties, such as the vertical particle-size distribution, soil porosity, and ...
Gemmules are able to withstand repeated freezing and thawing, desiccation and prolonged darkness. When environmental conditions improve and water temperature exceeds 13 to 23 °C, germination occurs and the young sponge leaves its shell and starts a new animal. Budding: The second asexual method is budding. This occurs in springtime when the ...
Soil animals, including fauna and soil mesofauna, mix soils as they form burrows and pores, allowing moisture and gases to move about, a process called bioturbation. [75] In the same way, plant roots penetrate soil horizons and open channels upon decomposition. [76]
Soil is composed of organic matter (decomposing plants, animals, and microbes), biomass (living plants, animals, and microbes), water, air, minerals (sand, silt, and clay), and nutrients (nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus). [4] For optimal plant growth, a proper carbon to nitrogen ratio of 20–30:1 must be maintained. [3]
The burrowers loosen the soil so that oxygen and water can penetrate it, and both surface and burrowing worms help to produce soil by mixing organic and mineral matter, by accelerating the decomposition of organic matter and thus making it more quickly available to other organisms, and by concentrating minerals and converting them to forms that ...